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Obama agenda: 'Determined as ever'

“With time running out on the chance to pass gun control legislation, President Barack Obama on Monday warned Congress not to use delaying tactics against tighter regulations and told families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims that he’s ‘determined as ever’ to honor their children with tougher laws,” AP writes.

The Hartford Courant: “President Obama exhorted the country not to forget Newtown Monday as Congress prepares for a historic gun control debate, delivering a speech that alternated between the poignancy of a memorial service, the enthusiasm of pep rally and the chilling statistics of mass murder.”

Obama’s approval in a CNN/ORC poll is 51%/47%, up from 47%/50% last month. Republicans in Congress get just a 25/73 rating. But Obama’s approvals on some specific areas are slipping – the economy: he went from 48/51 to 44/54; foreign affairs: from 54/42 to 49/48; guns: 46/49 to 45/52; the federal budget deficit: 41/57 to 38/58; policies toward gays: 59/33 to 52/42; health care: 50/49 to 44/54; Social Security/Medicare: 51/45 to 44/52; taxes: 50/47 to 46/52.

Illegal immigration improved - from 38/57 to 44/50.

Jill Lawrence looks at why there’s been a shift on gay marriage but not so much on guns among politicians: “Demographics offers one answer. Acceptance of gay marriage in the political world is being driven in part by polling that shows overwhelming support for it among young people. By contrast, at least two polls this spring show there is no corresponding generation gap on guns. … The relative power of the lobbies on guns and gay marriage is another factor.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group will begin grading lawmakers on their gun voting records, the Washington Post reports.

“Lil Wayne, Ron Howard, Scarlett Johansson and Kim Kardashian are all on the same page when it comes to criminal justice reform,” AP writes. “They’re among more than 100 entertainers calling on the president to focus on changing drug laws. Rap mogul Russell Simmons helped assemble the coalition of celebrities and civil rights leaders that presented a letter to President Barack Obama on Tuesday.”

Politico looks at various states’ efforts to increase taxes on gun sales.